A rushed, haphazard plan, part three

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/12/2023 (745 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The saga of the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation’s quest for a temporary overnight drop-in centre has taken yet another twist, necessitating yet another location and yet another application to the City of Brandon Planning Commission.

As was reported in the Sun this past Saturday, the BNRC has withdrawn its plans to use the church facility located at 302 Eighth St. for its drop-in centre just days before its scheduled Dec. 20 opening.

The withdrawal appears to have occurred because of a disagreement between the church and the BNRC. In a letter sent to Pastor Onyebuchi Onuke, BNRC executive director Rushana Newman said that “at this time, based on deviations from the previous conversations regarding the use of the space we will not be moving forward with your location (302 Eighth St.) for the overnight drop-in initiative.”

That suggests that the church attempted to change its agreement with the BNRC. However, Onuke told the Sun the BNRC withdrew from the agreement because of its inability to meet its terms.

Those terms reportedly included a requirement that the BNRC provide an initial rent payment and damage deposit, along with proof of insurance for Dec. 20, 2023 to March 31, 2024. Onuke also insisted that his group should oversee the operation and provide BNRC with daily activity reports.

That condition may have been a deal-breaker for the BNRC but that’s irrelevant now, given that the organization now appears to have an agreement to use the Redeemed Christian Church of God Restoration Parish, located on the northeast corner of 11th St. and Lorne Ave. That agreement is also subject to several conditions, including the requirement that a member of the parish’s staff must also be part of the centre’s workforce.

It remains to be seen if the BNRC is willing to comply with those conditions, but that isn’t the only hurdle standing in the way of the drop-in centre. Without the planning commission’s approval of a variance application for the new location, the centre will be a no-go.

This will be the third time the BNRC has sought the commission’s approval of a zoning variance application in the past two months. It initially sought to have the centre located at 817 Rosser Ave., but that application was rejected by the planning commission on Nov. 1 after strong objections from a number of business owners in the area.

The BNRC then turned to the location 302 Eighth St. and, despite opposition from nearby residents and at least one nearby business owner, the commission approved the variance application for that location on Dec. 6. There was a strong possibility that the commission’s decision would have been appealed, necessitating a hearing before city council sometime in January. But that issue is no longer relevant because the BNRC is now focused on a third location, at the corner of 11th St. and Lorne Ave.

That puts the issue back in front of the planning commission yet again, requiring yet another hearing, and, once again, it is far from certain the commission will approve the necessary variance application.

The Commission’s reasons for rejecting the BNRC’s application regarding the 817 Rosser Ave. location appear to also apply with respect to the new location, in that it would likely have a negative impact on surrounding residents and the area.

It’s also quite possible that the variance application will meet a level of opposition from the surrounding neighbourhood that is more organized and determined than those who opposed the application for 302 Eighth St. Even if the commission approves the application, an appeal might well run out the clock on the government funding for the drop-in centre project, which apparently expires at the end of March.

If that occurs, it would mark the end of a process that, while intended to solve a serious and growing problem in our city, has caused division and anxiety within the community. It would also underscore the importance of building a stronger, more inclusive community consensus toward addressing the issues of homelessness and addictions.

So, too, the BNRC’s experience in trying to find a suitable location over the last several months for its drop-in centre should speak to the need for a new — and perhaps more stringent — approval process for government funding of these kinds of special projects.

We can’t ignore the problem and hope it goes away, because it won’t. We need to work harder to find long-term solutions — a compromise, if you will — that will yield positive outcomes for those struggling with homelessness, without causing harm for others.